Recovering the Gwevin
by Skylark Evanson
Summary: For a long time, they've been on the rocks and in and out of love, but they've always had that spark, and they're ready to try and keep that love alive...
1. Daylight Fading

**A/N: I've been wanting to get this done for months. It's similar to "Gwevin & Everything After" because it's set to a Counting Crows album and is a series of unrelated one-shots with one on-going theme. This album is "Recovering the Satellites" and will be set entirely in Kevin's POV and in different settings and time frames through their lives.**

**The reason I wanted to get this done was because Omniverse has majorly left Gwen and Kevin out, leaving their relationship very open-ended. And here's my contribution so that the fandom can recover the Gwevin and rekindle the love for the pairing even through the new series (:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Song inspiration ("Daylight Fading") is by Counting Crows.**

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_Daylight Fading_

We've been dying for a few years now. I've wasted a lot of time and done a lot of crap. I'm pretty amazed by the fact that she's put up with my baggage for this long.

But tonight, she's packing her bags and heading back to normalcy, not even a second glance at the life she's leaving behind.

"Gwen, c'mon, I'll quit."

"No you won't." Her voice slices through me like a dagger and I want to go and hug her, but the fact that her eyes hold that faint purple hue of mana holds me back from any sudden movements. "You never quit. You can't quit. Dealing is like smoking or something to you, isn't it?"

"I'll swear on my father's grave." I even go the extra mile and cross my heart with one hand and offer up my most charming and innocent smile. "Gwen, just give me more time-"

"You've had years with me, and where are we?" She lifts her hands to the air and indicates to the flat we're living in, sparsely decorated, beaten down furniture, dead flowers outside on the minuscule balcony. Our home is a complete dump. At twenty-five, you'd think we'd be in a better place, not just our living situation but our lives as well. "Kevin, this isn't living."

I'm aware that she's a lesser priority than making cash or protecting the Earth, but she knows where she stands in my life and it's been this way for as long as I can remember. Even when we were teenagers. She's not the number one thing in my life; Gwen's always been aware of that. "Then let me take care of it."

She snorts her obvious annoyance and shoots me a glare filled with fiery hatred. Gwen pushes a few strands of hair behind one ear before saying, "You don't even take care of me, Kevin. Taking care of our home is even less important to you and don't even try to tell me otherwise." She drags open another dilapidated drawer and starts pulling out all of her belongings and even a few of mine, but she doesn't notice and just continues to cram it all into her already-overloaded suitcase. "I know where everything stands in your life, Kevin, and I'm sick of being treated as less."

Okay, so now I can see this is coming from that deeply seeded childhood problem of Ben always getting the glory. Maybe I can bring out the Lucky Girl suit and remind her that she's a lucky girl to have a lucky guy like me.

Such a long shot, but it sounds good in my head. Plan B, I guess.

"Gwen, can we have a civilized conversation? For ten minutes, just sit here and talk to me, face-to-face, human-to-human." I pat the bed beside me and give her the softest look I can manage, begging and pleading her to stay with me, even if just for a few moments longer. "We can talk about what we want to do and where we want to go with ourselves and how we need to change to get there and-"

One hand falls on her hip and all motion of packing ceases; it's a start. "You need to quit dealing. Find a real job with some real pay so we can get rid of my student loans and actually work on getting a semi-decent house with some semi-decent furniture and so that we can eat something that isn't bought illegally!"

"It's all bought legally, just-"

"Just with illegally obtained money." And she hustles right back into packing, shoving everything from panties to sweatshirts deep into that bag and trying to slam it shut. The clothing packed a mile high ruins the effect. "I've heard it before and I'm tired of listening to your excuses and lies."

She's just livid. Pissed beyond all explanation. I can't even describe this fury that's all over her face and body language. Irritation just prickles off her skin and the tension is palpable in the thick air of hot stress. Gwen is fired up and ready to rip the road alive with flames, leaving me in the smoke, dust, and ashes.

And I don't want her to go.

"Gwen, I love you," I tell her for the hundred billionth time. And I mean it. Never has a day gone by when I haven't been in love with Gwendolyn Catherine Tennyson. I married her for a reason. I kept her close for a reason. I've protected her for a reason. I have always loved Gwen, and I will never lie about something that I know is true. I have always loved her and I always will love her.

"No you don't, you lying bastard."

I don't know how to tell her, how to explain it, how to recover what is quickly falling from my grasp, but I know how I feel.

"You're cute when you sneeze," I tell her, spewing out all the things I love about this red-maned beauty that I haven't stopped thinking about since the day I laid eyes on her. "When you come out of the water like James Bond, you look kind of stupid but I think it's funny anyways. And when you get mad, like right now, your nose crinkles up sort of like a bunny."

"Kevin." Gwen shuffles anxiously for a few seconds, looking incredibly uncomfortable and conflicted.

I don't know what else to do but keep talking. I have to look away from her though. Her stare is making me nervous, and I almost feel flighty but suppress it because I'm here to stay and I want her to be too. "Your smile isn't flawless because one of your teeth doesn't quite meet the others, but it's beautiful and I wouldn't want you any other way. When you cry, I only want to hold you and hide you from the world because you hate crying. And your victory dance is stupid. But I love it because it's you."

She's stopped moving. "Stop it, Kevin."

"Back when you were in college, you kept biting the erasers off the pencils and I'd always go out and get you new pencils. And when we watched the sunset that one day on our Honeymoon, it was really cold when we had sex and I only wanted to go hide in the room but I didn't 'cause you wanted to be racy and do it on the lawn. And that hat you got for Christmas? It makes you look adorable and your eyes seem to glow but I'm not sure why. And-"

"You never complained."

I look over my shoulder at her; she's got one hand holding her other arm, and helplessness is scrawled across her perfect features. "What?"

"You never complained about the pencils." Her voice is small but strong. All frustration is gone. "We were flat broke and basically living off of ramen for almost two years and yet you still went out and got me new pencils without complaining about the habit and even without me asking." She swallows hard. "And you still managed to take me out to dinner every week."

I can't really explain love. I don't know what it is or how it works. I just know it is what it is and that what I have with Gwen is love, even if it's in its most chaotic, restless form. I believe this is love. With patience and time, I believe we can restore our faith in what we have. And it can be strong.

I sit there and quietly shrug, allowing my eyes to fall to the floor. "You may not believe me and I may not always treat you right, but I do love you, Gwen. I'd do anything. I'd follow you anywhere." It's my turn to swallow now. "I just want one more chance with you before we send all this up in flames."

There's a lingering silence that hangs between us like a phantom. We can feel it and hear it, but we cannot see it. And that spectre silence hangs in the air, haunting us both and filling us each with the fear and dread of what the next words may bring. And the spectre finally departs for a better place when Gwen finds her voice enough to ask, "What would you do if you saw a shooting star?"

"I'd wish for the world so I could give it to you." My response is instantaneous and I almost feel like the eloquence of it isn't even of my own speech, like maybe the spectre has come back and mimicked my own mouth.

There's that silence again and the spectre hasn't found its way to a better world yet. Maybe there isn't one.

"Look, I don't want to waste another year, Gwen. I want you to have a better life, that's the bottom line." Bile is in my throat, sticky and hot. The realization has dawned. "If having a better life means living without me, I'll leave. I'll keep up with rent on the flat until you're ready to head out on your own. I'll leave you alone and sign divorce papers, no fight. I'll just be gone if that's what you want." My chest is now on fire; I cannot imagine a life without Gwen and her auburn mane and her sweet-lipped kisses and her deliciously cute pout and her jade-hazed eyes and- "I'll take my clothes and leave if that's what you want." My keys are in my pocket and I reach for them and stand up; my legs are shaking. I jingle them as a show of good faith. "I'm going, alright?"

I don't even feel alive. I feel like I should just fall over and die. I'm losing the only thing I have ever truly wanted, the only thing that has never hurt me, the only girl I could ever fall so deeply in love with...

"Don't go," she whispers. Her voice is like the silkiest satin as diamond tears spill down her porcelain cheeks. "Kevin, I don't- I just- You-" And she can't look at me.

And I can't look at her. I know my own eyes are red and as I reach out beyond the pain of my throbbing pulse, I can feel the tears on my skin.

She finds air in her lungs again and through some sort of gasp-like sob, she asks, "Can we talk?"

Outside our window, the sun is just now rising above the purple-hued horizon. Daylight spills in through the window, painting her gorgeous face gold.

"Yeah," I say, recovering my senses and wiping tears from my eyes with the back of my hand. It'll be a few minutes before I recover fully from completely losing my composure. I sniffle loudly; she's still gold. "Yeah, let's talk."

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**A/N: Leave a review? Let's see if we can't recover the Gwevin, everyone (:**

**~Sky**


	2. Mercury

**A/N: Alright, it's been a while since I updated this, but no biggie, chapters are coming (: Don't panic. We've still got plenty of time to recover the Gwevin...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or any associated characters.**

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_Mercury_

As the scarlet tail lights of her new beau's car disappear into the horizon, one of them completely annihilated, I finally turn my attention to her.

Her. Red mane aglow like fire in the desert's icy moonlight. Hot pink mana illuminating the cold ground. Her teeth grind while the world around us is as silent as Mercury's empty surface. But she's there, even if she's pissed and furious and ready to kill. The point is, I have her attention.

"Kevin, I told you to leave me alone," comes her cobra-like hiss, and if she had fangs, I'm sure they'd be bared at me with the venom actually dripping, ready to force me to drop dead. "I told you I never wanted to see you again."

"Calm down," I plead. "Ben knows I'm out here. He got it cleared by your parents. They all want me to talk to you. You're slipping away. They say you're going crazy, Gwen."

Because from what I've heard- and seen- she's been going out on a lot of thin limbs lately, and sooner or later, one of them is bound to snap. Gwen's been ready to get in any suitor's car, even guys in worse shape than me; I had a steady job and a goal in mind. I've seen her with two drug dealers since she left me. I'm just worried that she doesn't know what she's getting herself into.

"I'm fine," she snarls, feral like a wolf. I can almost hear the foam at her mouth, and she's certainly gone off the deep end. This isn't the girl I fell in love with; and at the same time, it is. "Now get away from me, Kevin."

"Gwen, what are you trying to prove?" I push my hair from my eyes. "These guys? They want arm-candy and just another pretty face to show off. They don't care about you, and they sure as Hell don't treat you right. Too cheap for that, the assholes."

"Kevin, just go away." The mana keeps swirling at her fingertips. The way her arms are slightly bent, I know I'll be getting a lashing soon if I don't watch my words. She's never been afraid to take the reins and just let loose on me when she knows I'm doing something terribly wrong. And right now, she could just claim self-defense. "I don't want to talk to you."

"And you don't want to see me either, I know," I responded, trying to keep my voice level. "But you're out of your mind if you think sleeping with these guys is going to make you feel any better."

"I'll keep you off my mind, you dirty bastard."

It's like she'd just ripped the thorns from a nearby bush and wrapped me in ribbons of the sharp spokes from head to toe. A dull ache burrowed itself into my stomach as the desert air dragged goosebumps across my skin. "So you just want to forget about me, is that it?" I ask with a furrowed brow. "Because Ben says you're still hung up. He thinks the bad boys remind you of me and that's why-"

"These guys actually want to spend time with me and are normal and want to talk to me about real things." Her eyes narrow and the mana's pink hue deepens to violet. "They aren't you, Kevin. And I don't want them to be you because here's a new flash for you: I don't love you."

The thorns around me tighten, constricting like a snake. The desert wind falls dead and dry, my mouth suddenly tasting of sand.

"I want to be normal again, Kevin. I want to go to college with a guy who might know psychology or wants to be a business major, someone who can discuss politics and argue philosophy." And that swirl around her fingertips begins to taper off, going purple, rose, pink, and then disappearing altogether. "You're none of those things. You tried. But you aren't what I want."

She's living off of ideals. I'm not here to get her back: I'm here to talk her down. "These guys want to get in your pants. You could be talking about how great of a blowjob you can give and they wouldn't care because you talking means it isn't being given."

"Yeah, and you're obviously different from them." The sarcasm dripping from her voice is enough to make a whole river. "You can't tell me you're better than any of these guys."

Quite frankly, I'm not. I'm a middle school drop-out with the social skills of a long-term prisoner and a sailor's mouth. I illegally deal alien technology to put food in my belly and to pay my mom's mortgage. I barely have a GED and any money to my name. I live out of my car. I'm a murderer. I've got violent tendencies. The list goes on and on.

But the few highlights that do put me above those punks: I pay for my mom's mortgage instead of buying myself nicer things. I have a GED because a girl who wanted me to improve myself helped me get it, and if that isn't loyalty, I don't know what is. I've killed to save the universe because that's the right thing to do- one life over trillions. The violent tendencies are only because of a bad raising, but I'm fighting them like all my other demons. Besides, they've saved Gwen's life a few times.

I'm a bad person, but it's not all terrible.

I have to admit, "Really, I'm not. But I think you need to reconsider what you want. Someone who can love and provide, if nothing else. And I don't mean that they can provide drugs, Gwen." I watch her eyes narrow to devilish slits, ready to kill. "If not me, someone who wants to take care of you and someone who puts you first. Because you deserve more than the scumsuckers. They're just losers." My face turns hard as steel; I need to stand strong and put her down. "They don't really love you."

"Neither did you, Kevin."

It sickens me how she can disregard my feelings as simply physical. She's hot, no doubt, with that fiery tongue and smoldering stare. I first noticed her because she was a girl who could fight and wasn't afraid to play no holds barred. And then she wouldn't take no for an answer. It's Gwen's way or the highway. And she's so by-the-book, which is hot in itself when she pores over papers and texts, tapping a pen on that softly pink and chapped lower lip... She holds her own in a fight, stands up for herself, and will fuck up anyone who crosses her. Even me.

But now she's giving me the cold shoulder and I'm being put on ice. What I don't think she completely comprehends is that I don't let everyone in the way I let her in. Gwen gave me a key to her house, and I gave her a key to my garage. I told her the darkest stories from the Null Void and she just sat in my lap and cried because I'd seen such terrible things. I let her meet my mom. My mother, one of the only two people I had ever truly loved before her. I told her about my dad and opened up about Harvey and my experiences in New York and she just cried and told me I'd be okay, that I'd be alright, that nothing would hurt me anymore...

And she'd seen me cry.

I don't throw love around. I did. Twice. For my mom. Because of Harvey. It was a mistake. I cared for Qwarrel. He died. I don't love easily. And Gwen has my whole heart. She doesn't understand exactly who she is to me. She's my everything.

But I can't put that into words. She'll call me a liar, a slacker, a con man. All of which are true. Gwen doesn't believe a word I say. And maybe she's stopped believing in love. Maybe love doesn't matter to her anymore. The most terrifying part is that maybe I don't matter to her anymore.

I can't drag her back from the edge of the abyss because she's jumping into the deep end without knowing how to swim. She's a lost soul right now, just trying to find a host long enough to survive. Gwen's roaming. She's tasting this freedom. I think she's finding it metallic and cold, nothing more than days of ice and simplicity.

Gwen is drowning.

"Exactly," she says smugly with disdain and disgust written all over her face. "You don't know how to love."

She shouldn't say such lies. If she knew what love was, that love is sacrifice and hope and understanding and protection and adoration and battle and time, then she'd know how much I love her.

"Thanks for trying to help." More sarcasm. The river may overflow. "You just proved that you're desperate." Her posture goes from frustrated to exhausted and her weight shifts to one leg as a hip juts out. "All I want is to be normal. Please stay out of my life, Kevin."

I want to say more, but she won't believe me. I'm not a liar. I'm in love with her.

Gwen raises both hands. "If I see you again, I'm getting a restraining order." Simultaneously, she snaps and in a flash of magenta, she's a memory in the space she once filled. Her footsteps are still placed in the dust, but there's no other proof of her presence. It's only in my memory.

And just like that, she's slipped through my fingers again, like water, like mercury.

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**A/N: Leave a review? Thoughts and opinions are welcomed, thank you for reading!**

**~Sky**


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